What happened to this little baby???!!! Now he is going to be five years old in May, and starting kindergarten in the fall. Whew... time really does fly, doesn't it?!OK, but now I have to bitch about kindergarten registration for a few. Since we just moved, I was looking into the schools near our house to get Andrew all signed up for school. Of course, a thousand forms need to be filled out, there are more shots to get, appointments to make, ugh. Lots and lots of work. BUT the part that peeves me the absolute most is that I come to find out that kindergarten is ALL DAY LONG. I mean, 8am to 3pm... all day long. Is it just me, or do you all find that a little weird??! Isn't that the year that little kids should be acclimating themselves to being at school, being away from their families for an extended period of time, and shouldn't it be half days?!
Maybe I am being naive in a world that is changing a ton, but for a child that has never been in preschool, I am having a huge problem with this. I went in to the district offices a few days ago to ask about a transfer somewhere else, and the lady working there told me that kindergarten was changed to all day at most of their schools because parents didn't want to pay for daycare. OMG. OK, I do understand that parents have to work, and daycares exist for a reason.... but... kindergarten is not daycare!!! AH I could go on all day long about this, but I really want to hear your opinions about this. Anyone with small kids go through this already?? Is the all day thing as bad as I think?! Help me out haha!
And
Dancing with the Stars tonite! Did you all hear that Melissa from the Bachelor last week is going to be one of the "stars"??! Yay! She may have gotten dumped by gross old Jason, but she gets to dance, woo! :)
15 comments:
I don't think that you are crazy AT ALL. If that is the only option in our area, I will NOT be sending Kensington. It is too long, too intense and not necessary.
But I have no opinion on that.... :) heehee
The whole push for full day kindergarten is not just about parents wanting daycare for their kids. Kids in all grades are being expected to do more and what they learn now in kindergarten is more like what we learned in 1st grade. Teachers find that having a full day rather than a few hours to accomplish this goal is preferable.
From a parent standpoint, my three kids all had different kindergarten experiences. My oldest attended a private school for kindergarten, and although it was a full day program, all the academics were in the morning and the afternoon was all crafts and playtime. My middle one went to a half day program. It was 3 hours of solid academics with very little fluff. My youngest went to a public school full day program. All told, I really can't say that one was any better than the other, they all seemed to learn pretty much the same stuff and were all just as prepared for 1st grade.
With the upcoming budget cuts, I believe that full day kindergarten will probably be one of the first things to go, so you might not even have this issue come fall, but if your district is still doing full day, you might want to look into private schools or preschools in your area, one might have a half day program.
I agree with you. Kindergarten in our area has changed over to full day, 5 days a week- mandatory for public schools. private schools can make their own days/hours. ella's preschool where she is going currently offers 1/2 day, 5 days a week preschool which i was super happy about but then i was talking to one of the teachers and she totally sunk my happiness. she said that their kindergarten is very schoolish, no play stations, they sit at a desk the whole time except when they do circle story time together. I couldn't believe it. atleast in the public school they still get to play and be a kid! so once i found that out, that pretty much sold me on homeschooling. we were on the fence about it but i wasn't sure when to start, i had planned on starting with first grade but after hearing about the kindergarten options forget it! ella did preschool this year to help with her speech delay and it really helped. i'm not sending her to preschool again next year (she has a late birthday so kindergarten won't be until the following year. she is going to stay home next year and enjoy being a kid. then the following year we'll start homeschooling with kindergarten. it's sad thinking of our babies in school at 5 years old, all day, or even half day that's very strict that won't let them be a kid. my goodness they are only kids for a short time, why is everyone in such a hurry to make them grow up? I wish i could be a kid again!
i agree 110% about all day kindgergarten...especially for little boys..it just seems unfair.
Enjoy your little one they just grow up toooooo fast...
Spoken by grandma of 1 and 3 grown babies!!! (my baby goes off to college next year ;0
Public K5 in Louisiana is all day. Private can be either.
Mine went to a public magnet school for kindergarten and had a blast. Their time from 12 till 3 usually included a recess, centers, nap, and snack. She napped almost everyday because she was so tired.
Now we are in first grade--and it's a bugger! I think the transition from K to 1st was harder for us than from preschool to K, because in 1st grade there is no nap and they work all day!
Hi there~ your little one will be starting kindergarten in the fall, how exciting! Here's a link to one of my past blog posts regarding kindergarten schedules:
http://kidney-garden.blogspot.com/2008/05/12-day-extended-day-full-day.html
The push for developmentally appropriate pre-school and kindergarten experiences tends to come from parents and kindergarten teachers, neither of whom fund the schools. Many schools in the nation will be denied funding for part day/half day kindergarten programs (oh thank you, No Child Left Behind~ yes, that's sarcasm) which is why many are making the shift to full day schedules.
What your child DOES in the full day schedule is what matters- will nap time be offered? Two snack times and the lunch time meal? With there be hands on centers such as blocks, painting, clay, dramatic play, books, math manipulatives, computers, a dollhouse, puppets, a creative construction zone, etc. where children may work freely? Will art, library time, music, and PE be on a weekly schedule? How about recess- at least thirty minutes of free play?
Or will time be spent sitting in chairs at desks for unrealistic lengths of time, all with the goal of "practicing for first grade" and eventual state testing rigors? What the school does with your child's time is paramount to whether or not you try to pull him/her.
Hope this helps-
Michaele
my kids went to all day kindergarten, it was changed her a few years back. This will be Mark's first year as well... I am going to be lonely:(
I went through the same thing last year when Logan started Kindergarden. He would come home SO tired, we had such a hard time at first. It was terrible. He would fall asleep at like 6:30 every night, and we'd only get an hour or so with him every day. And, he was grumpy, cause he was so tired. In my opinion, it is kind of dumb. It doesn't matter if kids need to learn more, they are still in Kindergarden. That's the reason I got, was that there is so much more that they need to know now. I came so close to only putting him in for half a day, as some parent's did. But, he finally got through it, and was able to stay awake, and got used to it. It's probably going to be a little hard at first, but you guys will get used to it. And, at Logan's school they had a nap time, or a rest time, where there was an hour or so where they could color quietly, read, or sleep. They even brought pillows to school. Cute.
The school that Chloe attends has 3 different options: 1. attend 1/2 morning for free every day. 2. 1/2 day afternoon for free every day 3. attend full day everyday for $200 a month, or less if you are with a lowered income. Since I am a stay at home mom and this is a PUBLIC school, I opted to send her in the AM as opposed to paying for school. If it were a private school, that would be different.
I understand the push for longer days for higher academics and such, but I personally feel at that age, its just wrong. It will make them rebel more against school. I have a few friends that have their kids in different schools (due to living in those cities) and some of them have the kids bringing homework home almost on a daily basis!!! (are you kidding me??!!) Thankfully, Chloe has only had homework like 3 times and they were fun projects about her!!!
Good luck
Can you look into PEPP? Do they have that at his school?
I totally agree with you. Here in the UK, kids start all day "reception" which is kindergarten at age 4!! Many kids start half days all week at 3. I sound like an old lady, but remember the days when we hung out with mom and then went to school for 1/2 a day at 5??
WoW... are there any schools in your area with half day? That does seem long, I know my little guy who just started kindergarten this year is exhausted at 11:15 when I pick him up... He goes from 7:55 - 11:15.
My daughter does Kindergarten all day now. There were not even the half day programs open to her which bothered me a lot! I have noticed they have more demands that when I was back in school. She has "homework* every night it's insane. And to top that off all I ever hear now is how she is "almost a first-grader" eeek!!! I just feel the wrinkles coming on lol! Don't age me kid!
I miss my suggly baby! They just grow up too fast! I bet my Alexis and your Andrew would have a blast together. I will have to bring her down to Sea World again this year. We were there for New Years last year and then I took a teaching contract so perhaps at the end of Summer :)
Keep that beautiful head high...children are very resiliant! He will be just fine!
xo Molly
I have six children all went 1/2 day of kindergarten. My youngest son was the only one in his class who did not go all day. He turned out fine well adjusted and we had a great time. I think it is sad that society pushes kids so fast. Hmm look at our society now. Good Luck enjoy every moment of your little guy. Hope you find that 1/2 day!!!
I agree with you entirely. In the UK what they do in some schools (depends what county) is you either start primary school (same as kindergarten I think) at 4 or 5, but from September to January, the child goes to school for half a day, from 9am to 1pm.
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